Red Bull Air Race: Show will make East Coast debut over the Hudson River

In the shade cast by the Statue of Liberty, Mike Goulian will fly 12 feet above the water. As he begins his journey to the racetrack, he will see the New York skyline in the distance and the boats in the waterway.

But as his speed increases and he zooms over the Hudson River at 230 miles per hour, he will see nothing but the nose of his plane and the gates on the racetrack he must fly through. He’ll be focused on how to race the fastest.

Goulian, from Maynard, Mass., is one of 15 pilots who will take flight above the Hudson this weekend in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. A crowd of 65,000 is expected to watch from Liberty State Park in Jersey City; the qualifying rounds of the race begin Saturday at noon, and the event will end Sunday around 6 p.m.

"I’ve been flying now for a long time, since I was 17, and flown up the Hudson corridor a million times," Goulian said. "Fifteen years ago while cruising by the Statue of Liberty on the way to an air show, I never thought I’d be flying in an air race underneath its shadows."

The multi-city race has been presented annually since 2003, but has never before made a stop on the East Coast. Red Bull boasts having "speed, precision and skill" all wrapped into one sport. Each race course has its own characteristics; some take place over land and others over water.

"I’ve flown all around the world, the scenery is great," said Kirby Chambliss, a resident of Arizona. "But for me it can’t get any more exciting than New York. Racing by the Statute of Liberty, flying around New York. There is no place more American than New York. Plus I’m going to win."

TWISTS AND TURNS

Chambliss will only have 12 minutes of practice time to decide the best way to run the course.

"I need to spend those 12 practice minutes very, very productively," said Chambliss, who sits in fourth in the World Championship standings (Goulian ranks eighth).

Between gates seven and eight, he needs to choose to loop up in his plane, or fly flat. He’ll pick whichever method will make him fly the fastest with the wind patterns that day.

For Chambliss, Liberty State Park as a race host provides the comfort of home: no jet lag and no 11-hour time differences like at previous races in Australia and Abu Dhabi.

Chambliss’ family will accompany him to to the race. They make it to about 80 percent of them, Chambliss said, and wouldn’t miss this one.

Chambliss, who has six career wins, said that after the 12 minutes of practice, he likes to visualize the course, over and over again. He prepares by imagining what he’ll do in the plane, and every twist and turn he needs to make.

The backdrop will allow him to picture his home country. But even for the foreign racers, New York provides the perfect setting for high-altitude turns and acrobatic turns.

"I just checked out the track at Liberty State Park," said England’s Paul Bonhomme, Wednesday by phone. "The backdrop is going to be just awesome."

Red Bull Air Race gets ready to take over Jersey skies

Red Bull Air Race gets ready to take over Jersey skies This weekend the Red Bull Air Race will take place over Liberty State Park. The international series features professional pilots navigating planes through an obstacle course. In the lead up to the event, Red Bull gave a select few the chance to find out what its really like to fly in a racing plane. (Video by Adya Beasley / The Star-Ledger)

Bonhomme, who sits at No. 1 in the standings, said there are a few tight gates that will require him to turn his plane at 11 G-forces because the plane will have to make almost vertical turns.

Spanish pilot Alejandro Maclean of Madrid said this weekend’s spectators can expect speed, noise, action and adrenaline. Maclean has only had the chance to see the course on paper, but said he can tell it will be a tight course because it’s confined to such a small area. Meaning, it will be "awesome" for the audience.

This weekend’s race consists of two qualifying runs on Saturday. Then the field dwindles to 12, then to eight based on the best times. Then, down to four for the championship run on Sunday.

The difference between first and third place going into this leg is close, with Bonhomme sitting in first with 41 points, Hannes Arch of Austria trailing with 39 points and Great Britain’s Nigel Lamb is close behind with 37 points. Chambliss dips off in fourth with 26 points.

THE ULTIMATE THRILL

What does it feel like to fly one of these planes? Cameras inside them — streaming in real-time to screens stationed throughout Liberty State Park — will offer a taste.

"With the on-plane cameras you can experience almost the same thing I am," said Chambliss.

For Bonhomme, being up in the air provides the ultimate thrill.

"This is going to sound odd, but being up in the air is kind of a turn-on," Bonhomme said. "For me, it’s infinite freedom. There are no restrictions of what you can do, especially in this type of airplane (an Edge 540). Up and down, round and round. I love the flying and I also, like most humans, like the competition. So adding flying and aerobatics and turning to competing is perfect."

Bonhomme’s Edge 540 was built in Oklahoma, and is normally used for aerobatics competitions. But Bonhomme’s team tweaked the engine and the rest of the plane. Now, it lends itself perfectly to air racing.

The plane helped fly him into first place in the overall standings going into this weekend’s race. He said he knows it will not be easy to hold onto that top spot, but will try to "keep his cool" like when he won the 2009 championships in Barcelona, Spain.

That year, declaring the winner came down to the last race in the last location. He said he didn’t let the close points in the standings affect his championship performance, and he managed to inch out Arch.

"I remember vividly what it was like after winning that race," Bonhomme said. "Flying back to the airport, watching the sunset was one of the best moments of my life."

ADMISSION: There are two levels of general admission tickets: festival-style standing and grandstand. Standing-room tickets start at $30, but some areas have $55 tickets. Grandstand tickets start at $50 and will have assigned seat numbers. There are one- and two-day packages. Tickets can be purchased for about $95 for first-row seating in either grandstand. Children’s discounts are also available.

High Flyer’s Lounge and Race Club two-day passes, priced at $540-$1,650, offer attractions such as catering, open bars and access to VIP areas.

If spectators would like to watch from the water, a “Rocks Off Cruise Aboard the Harbor Lights” is available for $20 in advance, or $25 the day of the race, leaving from the Skyport Marina on East 23rd Street and the FDR Drive in New York.

The race cannot be seen from downtown Manhattan due to the small size of the airplanes.

TRANSPORTATION: Round-trip ferry service will be available from Manhattan’s Battery Park. There is no on-site event parking at Liberty State Park for the race. If traveling by car, parking in Jersey City near a light-rail station is the easiest way. The light rail will take race ticket-holders to the event free of charge.

High Flyer’s Lounge guests will have complimentary water-taxi service from Manhattan’s World Financial Center to Liberty State Park.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS: The Statue of Liberty will remain open, with ferries operating on schedule. The Liberty Science Center also will remain open.
TV: Channel 5 will present a Red Bull Air Race special from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.